“I don’t know Roberto Firmino, I’ve never met Roberto Firmino and have barely heard of Roberto Firmino, but I can say without hesitation that the man is 100% innocent,” Suarez said, advising the Brazilian to “never shake Mason Holgate’s hand again”, no matter how much criticism he gets.

Despite acknowledging he was not present during the incident, the Uruguayan is confident a fellow South American would never say such a thing and claims false accusations of racism are common in England.

“He is a Liverpool striker so he is accused of racism, it’s par for the course,” Suarez said, citing the British media’s “overreaction” to Ian Rush’s comments on Hitler being “misunderstood”, as well as the negative press coverage that surrounded Michael Owen’s repeated public use of the N-word in the late 90’s.

“It’s all a conspiracy and Holgate’s in on it. Look at him, he’s probably best friends with Evra, or at the very least related to him,” Suarez added, insisting that once again he is “definitely not racist”.